Tiverton fire chief’s future may be decided on Monday

Friday

Fire Chief Robert Lloyd’s future with the town could be decided Monday night.

TIVERTON — Fire Chief Robert Lloyd’s future with the town could be decided Monday night.

Lloyd has been on paid administrative leave since late October pending an investigation by Town Administrator Jan Reitsma.

Reitsma said Thursday that he has completed his investigation and hopes to present his findings to the new Town Council on Monday night, along with his recommendation.

“I hope it won’t get postponed,” Reitsma said. Some regular council meetings are quite lengthy and as a result executive-session items are continued to another meeting.

While Reitsma has not said why he solely took the initiative to put Lloyd on leave from his job, firefighter shifts at the new Tiverton Casino Hotel had been a controversial subject between Lloyd and the Town Council. The number of firefighters on duty at any one time was a point of contention. So was the council’s directive to legal counsel in October to seek an appeal with the state fire marshal’s office to allow the casino to hire its own fire safety personnel instead of having the town provide its firefighters to fill all of the shifts.

Reitsma said the appeal has not yet been filed with the fire marshal’s office.

A person familiar with Reitsma’s investigation said Thursday that there were a few other issues besides the casino staffing that led to the chief being put on leave.

Asked if Lloyd might soon be back on the job, Reitsma said: “I cannot answer. I hope to be able to say more in the near future. The matter needs to be discussed in executive session.”

A vote by the Town Council on Reitsma’s recommendation would have to be made in public.

Reitsma issued this statement in early November, shortly after he put the chief on leave: “Fire Chief Robert Lloyd was placed on paid administrative leave last week, pending an internal investigation. It was my judgment that I had an obligation to take this step, based on limited information available to me. It is not a final action. Since it involves a personnel matter, I am not at liberty to discuss the reason or the circumstances. That would also be inconsistent with my determination that an investigation is necessary, i.e. more information is needed before I can make reasonable findings or make further decisions.

“Contrary to what is apparently being alleged on social media, I was not directed by anyone to take this step, nor did any member of the Town Council have prior notice or knowledge. Speculation and accusations to that effect are false. (Really false.) I did not choose the timing, but will not let it stop me from conducting a fair investigation, without political interference by anyone. That, in my opinion, is what I owe to the Chief, the Fire Department, and the Town,” Reitsma wrote.

Lloyd, a South Kingstown resident, has been chief of the department for 14 years.

This is not the first time he and his department have been the subject of an investigation.

In 2014, the town paid $30,000 for a Town Council-sanctioned investigation of the Fire Department after allegations of unfairness, favoritism, bias and harassment came to the attention of town officials.

A 64-page report by attorney Marc DeSisto found that the department was “fractured” into two groups: one that favors and is perceived to be favored by the chief, and the other that disfavors the chief and is perceived not to be favored by the chief. Morale was “extremely low” in part because of the shortage of manpower and low pay, according to some statements in the 30 pages of the report that were not redacted.

That investigation involved interviews with all 30 members of the Fire Department, and 11 of the 18 firemen who left the department over the previous five years.

Manpower and pay were considered problematic, but then-Town Solicitor Andrew Teitz said problems in the department “reach beyond budgetary concerns.”

“More care in the investigation of disciplinary complaints and the fair and consistent issuance of resulting discipline” was one of the conclusions, and that the chief “should maintain a more professional relationship with his men.” The report noted there were no findings that could be considered criminal.

Lloyd declined to comment after that report was made public, and has not responded to calls for comment concerning the latest investigation.

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